Lerato & Setsumi’ Fairy Tale Wedding

Morning gorgeous people, I hope you’re having a beautiful week so far. I called today’s wedding a fairytale wedding because it honestly is. The dress, the location, the groom in his Seanamarena and Mokorotlo is on point. The idea that fairytale weddings take place in venues and castles in the middle of nowhere is just ridiculous. Just look at the stunning surroundings where Lerato and Setsumi had their photo shoot; it is absolutely MAGICAL!

How They Met
We met first at a work function but didn’t make anything of it. A few weeks later we saw each other at a colleague’s farewell party and had an interesting conversation that lead to Setsumi staying longer than planned because Lerato was just that interesting.
To cut the long story short we started chatting and hanging out a few days after that and here we are now, married!

The Proposal.
Sometime in 2017, Setsumi told Lerato that he went to tell his mom that he has met the girl he wants to get married to and due to cultural and traditional believes it was decided that it will be respected and the families are to meet first. Setsumi decided to hide the ring from her.
To cut the long story short Families met and Magadi was paid and concluded 30-06-2018 making Lerato and Setsumi Traditionally married.On the Woman’s day long weekend Setsumi took Lerato on a Mini vacation where he went down on one knee at the Kosi Mouth and SHE SAID YES!

The Planning
The planning process had its days but I’m an analyst so I had done a lot of analysis beforehand and I worked off a checklist. Wedding planning is indeed a lot of work but it feels good seeing it all come together.

The Suppliers
A lot of stuff regarding the wedding was DIY with the help of family and friends. My dad, aunt and three of my close friends are interested in the catering and events industry so they had some of the stuff already of which they let me use and I just had to hire some additional stuff and look for ideas of how we want things to look and with team effort it worked out fine.

One Thing They’d Change
Nothing really but it feels like the day went by just too quickly

The Dress
I have always loved Hayley Paige wedding dresses and I fell in love with one of her dresses in her 2014 collection. My dream was always to be that bride that dances in the street to a brass band. For the dream to come true I needed a dress that moves well and that I could twirl in. I decided I must custom make my own version in navy blue and hope for the best then added a bit of the seshweshwe fabric to add a bit of life to it and boy it came out better than I had imagined even though it gave me sleepless nights. I chose navy blue because it is the hubby favorite color and why not have a blue wedding dress.

Culture.
We tried to incorporate culture and tradition in both the deco and the outfits.

Outfits: Lerato ke Mostwana from Rustenburg and Setsumi ke Mosotho born in the Free State but raised in Lesotho. We are however a very modern couple and we tried to be different. We found a common understanding of mixing up the two cultures in a subtle but different way.

I had to wear Motoitsi and he decided instead of wearing a blazer with his suit, he would rather wear his cultural Seanamarena and Mokorotlo/ Mo di’a nyeoe (Basotho hat). His tie, which is a family heirloom, also had Basotho hats printed on it and is a family tradition between the brothers to wear that tie at their wedding. In his right hand, he carried mulamu oa Sesotho, which is used as both a weapon and a shield in Sotho culture.
For my second dress, I was caught between two seshweshwe patterns so I decided to just incorporate both in my dress, bouquet and headpiece as the colors were similar.

The flower pattern looked on the headpiece and the stripes worked for the trimming on the dress.

We also got our close family and friends to make outfits from the two fabrics that I liked – My moms and aunts wore the one with the strips while my close friends and cousins wore the one with the yellow flower.
All our guests were told to come in traditional African Prints

Deco: We got fresh flowers to break away from all the wood and we had made table runners with the yellow flower seshweshwe fabric and my aunt made a beautiful traditional ornament set up by the main table.

Entertainment: we had a marimba band as well as a brass band for entertainment.

Lerato: When Setsumi saw me for the first time in my dress, he just couldn’t help but throw in a baby kiss and my aunt was like hai it’s not yet time. Bontle: lol aunties hey, how sweet! He said I looked just too pretty

The Wedding Style
Traditional but classy and we always try to be different in everything that we do. Bontle: keep that throughout your marriage, why be like everyone else when you can be you and be GREAT!

Were there any tears( of joy of course) when trying on the dresses
I had two outfits and when my mom first showed me my motoitsi, I just couldn’t believe it was mine as only married tswana women in my family can wear it and I would be wearing it with her, I shed a little tear.

Then for the second dress uhmmm I didn’t cry but I felt like the most beautiful person in the world, it felt as good as it looked and I was so happy my crazy idea that no one understood worked out.

Saves and Splurges
Lerato: We saved on a lot of things, my people came through and all the analysis and time I put into the small details paid off, it didn’t all go as planned but I don’t think it could have turned out better than the way it did.

Setsumi: Her ring was the biggest investment, everything else was okay.

Advice to future brides and grooms.
Do not compromise on anything you want for your wedding, yes you are required to spend some money but it’s all worth it in the end. Never refuse any help from anyone that offers. And most importantly do your research and don’t let anyone discourage you on any of your ideas.

Looking Forward
Little Lerato’s and little Setsumi’s and to just keep having fun and growing as the couple we are.